Stochastic Systems

Scope

Stochastic Systems is the flagship journal of the INFORMS Applied Probability Society. It seeks to publish high-quality papers that substantively contribute to the modeling, analysis, and control of stochastic systems. A paper’s contribution may lie in the formulation of new mathematical models, in the development of new mathematical or computational methods, in the innovative application of existing methods, or in the opening of new application domains. Relative to application-focused journals, Stochastic Systems publishes papers in which applied probability plays a significant, and not just supporting, role. Relative to other applied probability outlets, Stochastic Systems focuses exclusively on operations research content. Papers at the interface of stochastics, modeling, statistics, and data science are highly relevant. A partial list of applications of interest is service operations; healthcare; logistics and transportation; communications networks (including the Internet); computer systems; finance and risk management; manufacturing operations and supply chains; market and mechanism design; revenue management and pricing; the sharing economy; social networks; cloud computing. While many papers at Stochastic Systems have a methodological focus, methodological content is not necessary for publication. The journal also welcomes papers that present techniques or insights that advance the practice of applied probability. A simple but novel idea with high realized or potential impact is relevant. The main criteria for publication of such applied papers are (1) Innovation: does the paper present new ideas, or existing ideas in a new setting? (2) Application: is the paper truly useful to practice? (3) Translation: can the ideas in the paper be applied to many different settings/organizations?